Seven Minutes
by Esnapand
Summary: The crew of the Bebop's on a hunt for a young hacker. But... the bounty seems mysteriously high. Question's left: What's behind it all? Please read and review!


Writer's note: Alright, this is my first Cowboy Bebop Fanfic *ever*. That's first. Second: English isn't my native language. So please excuse any spelling or grammar errors. Hope I did a good job and: The second chapter is on its way.  
'nother note: The uploading of this little ficlet is my late birthday present for Jonas. Hope you'll like it. Happy 17th Birthday!  
And now: Thanks for reading, have fun and please review!

+++7minutes+++

1: Strange News From Another Star

Running through the main room, the barking dog close behind her, she made her way to the sofa where the only person waiting to be unnerved by her lay. It was extremely boring on the Bebop today, with Faye sitting in her own room and watching this old BETA tape she got from her younger self or wasting her time on other things and Jet talking to his Bonsais, cutting and watering them, well aware that they'll never grow. So, these two persons were out of reach. The only one left was Spike, laying on the sofa, his face covered by the book he fell asleep over.

Of course, Ed could have amused herself by a little web-surfing or sleeping, but not today. She felt the urge to jump and run around, screaming and just MOVING.

"Here I come!" she screamed and jumped right in the middle of a huge step. Spike flinched by the time she flew through the air but didn't manage to awake when she hit his chest with her knees.

"Umff...." His breath was pressed out of his lungs and his heart jumped in shock. Straightening as much as he could with the girl sitting on his chest he tore the book away from his face. With wide eyes, Spike looked directly into Ed's toothy and cheerful grin. Not the best sight to wake up with.

"Is Spike-person awake?" She asked in a high voice. Next to her on the floor, Ein sat, still barking. All the noise and all the mayhem was too much for Spike.

"Go away." He murmured tiredly, pushing her off his chest and the sofa with his left arm, listening satisfied to the thump to be heard as Ed hit the floor.

"Meanie!" She shouted from her cheap place, a pout on her young features.

"Whatever." Spike muttered and leaned back again. All of this was way too much for his nerves. He was tired, he was hungry and now he also was angry until the end of the world. Why had they never thrown this terrible child out of the airlock somewhere in a lonely spot of the universe? How much peace would have been now... Anyway, it wasn't too late to do so. But for now...

"Ed? Run and get me a cigarette and I'll forget what happened, okay?" Oh please, let her buy that...

"What's Spike-person gonna do if I don't run?" She still grinned. Terrifying, this child. A brilliant hacker on one side, an insane little thing without brains on the other. Sometimes Spike thought it was creepy. If she had parents, they must did something wrong. Terribly wrong...

"Otherwise I'll throw you out of the airlock." He replied.

"Fine!" She squeaked, jumped to her feet and ran away. Some moments later she returned and handed a cigarette to Spike. Then she was off again, the pooch close behind.

Peace was back to the main room.

"Great. Now I'm awake and hungrier than before." He told the table in front of him while lighting up the cigarette. They had to get money. They had to get for a bounty. Bounty meant money and, to complete the chain forming in his mind, money meant food. No need to mention that food meant a happy Spike.

So, what's the best thing to do in such a situation?

"Hey Spike, switch on the TV. It's time for Big Shot."

Exactly. Since when's Faye a mind reader?

"Done with watching the tape? Found out something new about the past? Or are you still as clueless as before?"

Without a word, Faye turned on the TV, parking herself on the sofa next to Spike. Immediately, the BGM of Big Shot filled the room, followed by Punch's "Amigo!"

"There's nothing left in my memory. It tuned in right after I woke up from cold sleep. I know that the girl on the screen is me, but... There's nothing. Who were my friends? Where did I live? What were my hobbies? And who was I myself? I can't remember." She spoke calmly, her eyes glued to the screen in front of them but her gaze was far, far away.

Spike almost felt compassion when he looked at her. For a moment he pondered if he should give her his cigarette. In the end, he decided against the idea but considered giving her a drag or two.

"Maybe you'll meet someone from your past. An old friend or, hey, you probably have younger siblings, who knows?" Geez, he found some semi-encouraging words.

"Yeah, who knows. Definitely not me."

Alright, she could have the first drag. Spike passed her the cigarette and earned a surprised look in response.

"What's that? Pity from you, Spiegel? And tomorrow's the end of the world, right?" Sarcasm and cynicism, but she took the drag anyway.

When Spike wanted to say something else, the screen caught their attention. Well, not really the screen, but what was on it. There, written in white, was the number 20,000,000, the characteristic Woolong W next to the number. Exactly what they needed right now.

"That's... some bounty." Faye stuttered, Spike's cigarette hanging from her lips.

They stared at the screen and watched the hosts saying goodbye, followed by the credits.

"Twenty million Woolongs... Can you imagine what we can eat for twenty million Woolongs? No more cup ramen, no more soy sprouts, finally some meat..." Spike was already in his own little world, dreaming and hallucinating.

However, Faye realised something essential...

"Uhm.. Spike?"

"What's first? Chicken? Duck? Pork? So much to eat..."

"SPIKE!" Faye punched his shoulder, forcing him out of his dreams.

"What?" Spike stared at her, angry about the fact that there wasn't any meat on his plate like it was supposed to be. At least in his dreams.

But Faye only pointed at the screen, now showing a dumb commercial.

"Haven't you realised? We know how much the bounty is. But... on which head is it? We haven't seen THIS part!"

Realisation crossed Spike features as the words spoken by Faye fell into place inside his head. No more dreams of pork and chicken and slowly, very slowly, a vein appeared on his left temple, followed by a strange flinching of his right eye.

"And why haven't we seen this part?" he asked, voice calm but obviously angry. "Huh, Faye? Why haven't wee seen on which head the bounty is?" Pause, then: "Because one person must have talked about their past, right? There's a show on TV which would bring the food on our plates and all you have to do is talking about your past!"

He was really angry. Sure, it was 20,000,000 Woolong but still…

"So?" Faye replied, "It's my fault, right? My fault that we didn't catch the name of the bounty, no need to mention the face or any other information, right? Let me tell you something, Spiegel: It wasn't me who started the conversation on a topic I really don't like to speak about, it was you. So, it's your fault as well as mine. Alright?"

The two stared at each other for a minute or two, when suddenly Ed appeared between them, a huge grin on her face.

"Spike-person and Faye-Faye wanna know who the bounty is? Ed can tell yer!" It seemed that she already forgot the incident between her and Spike earlier. However, she caught attention.

"What did you say? How will you get the information?" Faye asked what Spike was too slow for.

"The Big Shot's database, of course!" Ed smiled and crawled to her laptop called Tomato. Forty seconds later she was already diving through the 'Net.

"This kid's incredible… She's saving your arse, Spiegel." Faye whispered with a grin, ignoring Spike sitting next to her, trying to snatch his cigarette from her lips.

"She'll be incredible when she's found the data needed. I refuse to agree with you before that happens." As soon as he realised that he wouldn't get the cigarette, he leaned back and watched Ed moving her arms, mumbling incoherent words. It was only a matter of time…

"Found it, found it! Ed found it!"

Immediately Faye jumped up and walked towards the girl on the floor, looking over her shoulder. A picture of a teenage girl appeared on the screen of the Tomato. She had long dark hair, brown eyes and wore weird shaped glasses. The name "Eela Cruss" was written next to the picture, as well as the bounty of 20,000,000 Woolong. She couldn't be older than eighteen, nineteen years.

"What did she do that the bounty's that high?" Faye kneeled down next to Ed, taking a closer look.

"Eela's a hacker. Good one. Hacked into the systems of the government of Venus. Stole money this way. Responsible for many errors occurred in the infrastructure. Etcetera etcetera etcetera."

Now Spike rose from his seat so he could have a look at the picture, too. Indeed, it was a young girl. And he was sure that, without the glasses, she was very beautiful. She had a perfect face…

"Eela Cruss? Where can we find here? Any information?" Back to business as usual. Maybe she was beautiful, but Hey, she was worth 20 million. That was enough for Spike to forget about beauty.

Ed scrolled down the page, but there wasn't any info to have a look at.

"Alright Ed, try to get some then. I'll go and tell Jet." And off he was.

"I bet you don't need my help, do you, Ed?" As if Faye would have helped her. Ed shook her head anyway. Leaving these things to the kid was always the better.

+++

"Twenty million you say? That for sure is a lot of money…" Jet rubbed his forehead with his right hand, throwing the contents of his pan –soy sprouts, as usual- up the air, catching it again with the pan. "And Ed's looking for more information?"

Spike nodded.

"I always thought you'll never see the face of a hacker. But these guys at Big Shot even have a picture of that girl. Ask myself where they got it." Spike wondered aloud, leaning against the doorframe, smelling the scent of the fried soy sprouts.

"Hey Jet... this is the sixth time we have soy sprouts for diner. How about something else? Noodles would be a welcomed difference..."

Jet, however, ignored Spike's question.

"What do you mean with that? That it's a fake or what?" he forced the conversation back to topic.

"I don't think that far, Jet." Spike jumped the train, forgetting about the food. "It's just odd, is all. That's blowing the pictures of hackers I had in my mind. Look, we didn't know how Ed looked, either. They set the bounty on her head and we chased her. But we didn't know how she looked."

"We were lucky that SHE found US. I agree with that. It's odd that they have a picture of that hacker girl. And twenty million is a bit high, isn't it? What did she wrong?"

"Ed said she hacked into the systems of the Venus government. Got money by that, caused some trouble. The usual criminal hacker business."

Once more the soy sprouts left the pan and flow through the air just for landing safely in the pan again. Jet really was a master at cooking. Well, even if his meals didn't taste good every time. At least he knew what he did there, in the kitchen.

"The usual hacker's biz, you say? Alright, then the bounty seems too high. There's more behind it, I think." A last throwing movement. "Now, what'll you do, Spike?"

He looked at a cheerful grinning Spike.

"What should I do? I'll get the bounty, what else?"


End file.
